Design projects in the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI)
have become very large. They are exceedingly complex, have a
long duration, and are very expensive. Often, executing these
massive projects requires forming joint ventures or
partnerships of engineering, construction and owner
organizations. This interdependent joining of disparate
stakeholders necessitates using the latest generation of 3D
engineering design tools for more efficient project
execution.

Beyond the project phase, asset owners now recognize the
additional value that design tools can yield, not only to the
project phase but also to the
operating of the plant and other industrial assets. According
to the ARC Advisory Groups new market study on
engineering design tools, new 3D design applications can play
an integral part in determining the optimal design, creation
and construction of HPI facilities. Such tools can play an
increasingly important role throughout the entire plants
life cycle.

Increased acceptance of cloud-based engineering tools

ARC is also seeing increased acceptance of cloud-based
solutions for engineering design tools and other plant and
enterprise applications. These tools support distributed
workflows and enable teams located in different offices and
countries to collaborate effectively and to compress project
schedules. Users can manage assets more efficiently.

Although, historically, engineering and design tools were
designed largely for design and engineering stakeholders, such
as architecture, engineering and construction (AEC); or
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies, these
offerings have morphed into more-robust collaborative agents.
Now owner/operators can also apply such tools to extend the
service life and efficiency of their plant assets. For
greenfield projects that typically involve considerable capital
expenditure, owners also apply engineering design tools at
earlier project stages to facilitate quicker operational
readiness and, subsequently, improvements in the operations and
maintenance phases of the
assets life cycle. Of course, use of common platforms
also simplifies the handover of the asset from the EPC to the
owner/operator, while ensuring comprehensive and up-to-date
documentation of the as-built assets.

As the number and complexity of present engineering and
design tool applications has grown, the cloud has emerged as a
delivery mode to customers. At present, some industrial users
are reluctant to use the cloud due to security concerns. This
is especially true as asset owners begin to apply these tools
not only to design and construct new facilities, but also for the post-project phase of the assets
life cycle.

Most engineering design tool suppliers are adopting the
cloud for certain data-rich applications, and they are
considering ways to offer additional cloud utilization. For
instance, Autodesk is looking to deliver a few 3D modeling
tools to customers using the cloud. Autodesk and other major
suppliers, such as AVEVA, Bentley and Intergraph, view cloud
computing as a logical delivery method since 3D rendering and
algorithms of embedded analytic tools require significant
processing power. Suppliers see costs, collaboration and
sharing designs as more reasons to move some applications to
the cloud.

Selective use of engineering design tool applications is
ideal for cloud computing for many reasons. Service providers
create cloud computing systems to meet clients business
needs in several areas. Typical cloud computing services
include virtual IT servers as extensions to a companys
local IT network, commercial or custom hosted software,
software as a service, and network storage. In general, cloud
computer systems are designed for scalability to support large
numbers of customers, as well as demand surges.

Cloud benefits

The benefits of cloud computing include less hardware and
software to manage and maintain. It is also highly scalable to
meet the users needs, which are typically charged on
usage. It can also be charged with a more predictable flat
rate. However, in this model, customers cannot directly control
the stability of the networks, and they are highly dependent on
the service provider. In addition, cloud computing often
requires sending data over the Internet and storing it on the
third-party service provider. The privacy and security risk is
of the utmost concern among users.

While cloud-based engineering design tools are becoming more
viable, ARC believes that suppliers need to develop a strategy
for delivering tools to users that reflect their concerns and
changing needs. Many users want to own the physical assets and
digital information, and, as a result, private clouds rather
than public clouds may be more appealing. In other situations,
a combination of the two may be more appropriate.

Private clouds are the internal computing architectures used
to process information behind the firewall. Also, private
clouds can use spare internal computing capacity. The private
cloud can maintain the data, while a public cloud can provide
the processing power. The data still must be sent to the public
cloud, but it can be done in an encrypted and very secure
fashion. HP

The author

Dick
Slansky is a senior analyst with the ARC
Advisory Group; his responsibilities include directing
the research and consulting in the areas of PLM, ALM,
and engineering design tools for both discrete and
process industries. He has over 30 years of direct
experience in manufacturing engineering, engineering
design tools, control systems integration, software
development, and technical project management. Mr.
Slansky holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering
from the University of Kansas, and a BS degree in
computer science from Seattle Pacific
University.

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